Simple Keto Taco Casserole (An Easy Low Carb 30 Min Meal)

Keto taco casserole is a fantastic variation to standard tacos that includes lots of cheese, tons of flavor, and is so simple to make!

I’m going to even admit, I might even prefer this taco casserole over tacos. So much gooey cheesy flavor, it’s just hard to beat. 

No need to wait until Taco Tuesday, you love this low carb casserole every day of the week. The keto taco casserole is not only low carb, but it’s sugar free and gluten free too. Only 8 net carbs per serving!

Whether you want to make this easy taco casserole recipe with ground beef or turkey, or as one whole casserole or by making individual serving mini casseroles, we include tips and recipe adaptions too.

We also have a popular low carb chicken chili verde casserole if you’re a fan of chicken and green salsa.

Keto Taco Casserole

You might be surprised this easy casserole only has 5 ingredients, not only is this so simple to make but it also makes a fantastic low cost dinner idea.

Ingredients for keto taco casserole:

2 lb ground beef (we used 80% lean/20% fat) – ground turkey works well too!

1 16 oz cottage cheese (regular, not low fat)

1 cup chunky salsa

3 Tbsp taco seasoning (easy sugar free option listed below)

1 cup shredded 3 cheese blend

You might be surprised to see cottage cheese on the ingredient list but it’s actually one of my cooking secret weapons that adds tons of cheesy flavor but helps the dish to still hold it’s shape. If you’re following a keto diet you need to make sure you’re using the full fat cottage cheese and not low fat. The low fat cheese is higher in carbs than the regular cottage cheese.

Easy Sugar Free Taco Seasoning

Here’s the quick and simple recipe for no sugar and no artificial ingredients taco seasoning we often use instead of packaged varieties. 

2 tbsp chili powder

3 tsp tsp ground cumin

2 tsp salt

This WILL give you a little more than you need for this keto soup recipe, but it’ll keep in an air tight jar for months for later use. So easy to double and triple the recipe!

Is Cottage Cheese Keto?

Some people have asked me whether or not cottage cheese is keto, and it can be a part of a keto diet as long as you’re sticking to to low carb cottage cheese brands. Be sure to check various brand labels and be using full-fat cottage cheese too.

The Trader Joes brand we used has 6 carbs per cup and 12 carbs for the whole container, so with this recipe being 8 servings, the cottage cheese counts for 1.5 of the net carb per serving.

Some casseroles use cream cheese or sour cream, but then the casserole mixture would turn out more like a hearty dip instead of a simple low carb meal with substance. Not that there’s anything wrong with turning this into a dip by any means! But you wouldn’t typically eat meat dip for dinner by the spoonful, which makes cottage cheese the perfect choice.

Can I Use Ground Turkey Instead of Ground Beef?

5/4/19 update: I had an extra pound of ground turkey in the fridge and wasn’t sure what to do with it, so decided to try this keto taco pie recipe with ground turkey instead of using ground beef. Here’s my opinion and results:

Using regular ground turkey (and NOT super lean), this was actually very good and we would definitely make it again! Ground turkey doesn’t have as much flavor as ground beef (in my opinion), so I’d suggest either adding:

An extra tsp of taco seasoning OR

1/4 tsp+ of garlic salt

You can also keep the casserole itself on the mild side and add extra toppings or even hot sauce to kick up the heat.

Since this recipe calls for 2 lbs of ground meat and I only had 1 lb on hand, I decided to half the recipe ingredients and make individual size portions in ramekins. They took 5 minutes LESS to cook, otherwise the recipe instructions are the same.

Low Carb Taco Casserole

You’ll be so surprised that you can put this low carb casserole together and bake it in only 30-35 minutes! 

Preheat your oven to 375.

While it’s heating get started on cooking your ground beef (or ground turkey) on medium heat on the stove top. This should take about 7-8 minutes.

Drain the grease.

In a medium sized bowl combine the cottage cheese, 1 cup of the shredded cheese, the chunky salsa and the taco seasoning. Make sure you’re using a sugar free taco seasoning and sugar free salsa to keep this dish no sugar.

Mix the casserole ingredients together.

Spray your 7×11 baking pan with non-stick spray or oil and spoon the keto taco casserole mixture into the dish. Top with 3/4 cup of shredded Mexican blend cheese. 

Bake for 20 minutes on the middle rack until the casserole is heated through and the cheese is bubbling. IF you’re using individual sized ramekins like I did with my turkey keto taco pie, cut the baking time down to 15 minutes.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

You can also serve the low carb taco casserole on bed of lettuce, with avocado or guacamole, sour cream, chives or olives.

The keto taco casserole is also a great dish to meal prep and take for lunches during the week! It should also freeze well if you want to store it in the freezer to eat later.

Other Posts You’ll Enjoy

Low Carb Chicken Green Chili Casserole

Stuffed Peppers (without Rice)

20 Minute Paleo Beef Stroganoff

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Keto Taco Casserole

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

An easy low carb and keto taco casserole that only has 5 ingredients and takes 30-35 minutes to put together and cook!

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Ingredients

• 2 lb ground beef
• 16 oz cottage cheese (regular, not low fat)
• 1 cup chunky salsa
• 3 Tbsp taco seasoning (sugar free)
• 1 3/4 cup shredded Mexican style cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cook the ground beef on medium heat on the stove top. Drain the grease.
3. Combine the cottage cheese, salsa, taco seasoning and 1 cup of the shredded cheese in a bowl
4. Add in the cooked ground beef.
5. Spray an 7x11 baking pan and add the keto taco casserole mixture to the dish.
6. Sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup of shredded cheese.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until the mixture is heated through and the cheese is melted.
8. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes

Nutritional information is given as an estimate, the data provided might vary slightly depending on the exact brands of ingredients you used. We highly suggest using our data as an estimate and to make sure to calculate nutritional info yourself also.

Nutrition Information

Yield 6 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 523 Total Fat 36g Saturated Fat 15g Trans Fat 1g Unsaturated Fat 15g Cholesterol 168mg Sodium 1161mg Carbohydrates 9g Fiber 1g Sugar 0g Protein 55g